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Friday, February 13, 2009

John Edwards, W6JE, has written a really great article for Electronic Design. It is about analog circuitry, and the place of skilled analog designers in our increasingly digital world. John's article is filled with references to the kinds of issues that frequently pop up in the clouds of solder smoke that we work in, things like the need for a certain intuition about circuits, the need for deep understanding of how things work and why some things work and others don't. He mentions the element of craft and even "black magic" that plays a role in analog design and construction. In short, John's article describes "The Knack." He even manages to use the word in his article, and acknowledges (in his bio) that he has been a victim of Dilbert's disease ever since a childhood encounter with a Heathkit Sixer. Check out the article:http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/20562/20562.html

You should also visit John's personal web site. We're about the same age, and we are both from New York City. John's page reminded me of another factor that might have put me on the path to solder smoke and hamfests: The 1964 World's Fair. Here's John's page:http://www.gojohnedwards.com/

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In response to popular demand, "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
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The two versions are identical, except for a minor difference in the paper used. That's why the prices are a bit different.